Journalist of the Day: Roger Cohen

A Jewish journalist from Brooklyn toughs it out in Tehran, writing an unforgettable piece published in today's NY Times while simultaneously protecting his own hide and helping those around him. Strong stuff.

Hero of the Day: David Rhode

Can you imagine being captured by the Taliban in November 2008 and a full SEVEN months later, still in captivity, having the presence of mind to scale a wall and escape?! ...

[New York Times reporter] David Rhode, who was kidnapped seven months ago near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, scaled a wall and fled to safety at a nearby army base.

Kudos to the Times for keeping the incident completely under wraps, and to other news orgs for cooperating with that request. If only the WSJ had done the same when Daniel Pearl was nabbed ...

Man on Wire!!

If you don't know who Philippe Petit is, you should. If you know who he is and why he became quite well known 24 years ago, but you have never seen the story of how the hell he accomplished his brilliant "art crime", and/or have never seen the footage of that remarkable morning, see Man On Wire.

Preferably see it on the big screen while you can if you live within feasible distance of the two (yes, only two) theaters in the country where it is now playing. In downtown Manhattan, it's playing thru Thurs 12/25 several times a day at the Sunshine Cinema, and then through the 1st there will be two showings per day around lunchtime. It's also playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema in San Francisco.

Philippe Petit is my hero and that is not a facile declaration. When it comes to naming heros, I heed the Grail Knight telling me, "Choose wisely." Petit is a special soul on earth at this time. I speak not only of the dazzling beauty of his artform and his sheer guts and willingness to live life instead of simply attempting to avoid death for a bunch of decades. I am in awe of the sheer poetry of his beauty, his speech, his bearing, his being.